VisionQuest has mostly stood apart from the Marvel shows that have come before it. Focusing on Vision and Ultron as its guiding lights, the eight-part show has been more introspective than its predecessors, WandaVision and Agatha All Along. As a result, it's allowed for some insightful character study, especially as its two leads grapple with what it means to feel emotion.
However, this focus has stripped some of the pacing that VisionQuest's more stylistic predecessors nailed. That is, until the finale. Instead of focusing on action sequences for its final showdown between Ultron and Vision, VisionQuest takes another path.
Ultron, driven mad with grief, plans to send the nanobots to London to take over the minds of everyone within minutes, before Vision pulls him into his Mindspace and conjures up a sitcom called UltraVision. The sequence sees the two AIs wrestle for control in a highly stylized set-up that feels pulled straight out of WandaVision.
Deftly navigating both the fun tone that the first MCU show struck with the heartfelt underpinning of grief weighing on its protagonist (then Wanda, now Ultron), it's the perfect way to say farewell to this trilogy, and marks VisionQuest as one of the best finales in the MCU's TV history.
Sitcom entrance
From the moment it begins with Ultron reading a newspaper as a bumbling Vision stomps his way onto the screen, the whole sequence is a joy to watch. After some apt humor about robots, the UltraVision theme plays, composed again by the distinctive WandaVision songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
"Don't kill the world," the theme tune sings as we're told the show is based on characters created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. There are so many fun in-universe references to the MCU here that make it feel as though it could have been pulled right out of WandaVision's early episodes. It embraces all that's come before with references like the Ship of Theseus in goldfish terms and the dead fish being called Sparkles.
Another great stylistic device is the montage of episodes that we run through as time passes at lightning speed in the world of UltraVision. 'How I Met Your Creator', 'Malware in the Middle', 'Two and a Half Synths', and 'CSI: URL' are some of the highlights. In fact, there's so much here that I missed on my first time watching that it feels almost certain this will become a Marvel moment that viewers will continue to pore over long after the show has concluded.
Everyone involved embraces it totally too, as each new character makes their "sitcom entrance" and walks through the door. E.D.I.T.H. star and comedy veteran Emily Hampshire told us she loved filming it, and the joy that comes from completely committed actors is so evident.
It reminds me of watching the Agatha All Along sequence back in WandaVision: stylistically executed, furthered the plot wonderfully, and featured a great performance at its center. With UltraVision, it feels like showrunner Terry Matalas finally brings the unique tone that this television trilogy has been known for into its final story.
Love Persevering
UltraVision also crucially works because it's a moment of emotional pay-off. Just as WandaVision's whole power was down to Wanda's grief splintering darkness into its various sitcom set-ups, Ultron's devastation weighs heavily on the whole sequence.
There's a dark undertone to the gags, especially as it becomes clear that Ultron is really in charge here. The tone shifts along with the aspect ratios when Ultron kills the studio audience, and the fourth wall finally breaks, leaving our two leads to sit down for their final heart-to-heart of the season. It's a compelling watch.
As Ultron and Vision speak, they dissect themes that have run through the whole WandaVision trilogy. Vision is finally able to acknowledge his own pain at the loss of Wanda, and Ultron steps into the Scarlet Witch's position, struggling to wrestle free from the depth of pain caused by Jocasta's murder.
"A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts; the other you said that," Ultron says to Vision, who replies, "No, I said that." It's the moment the whole show has been leading up to as Vision accepts all of his past versions to become who he now is.
By the end of this conversation, filled with moments that feel as poignant as "What is grief, if not love persevering", both Ultron and Vision are at a point of denouement with their understanding of human emotion.
The heaviness of this is balanced by the levity of UltraVision, proving that Matalas knows that age-old trick that comedies can hit you hardest emotionally. It all makes for a perfect point to finish this painful, beautiful trilogy – right back where we started.
VisionQuest is out in full on Disney Plus now. For more on the show, check out our VisionQuest ending explained and our guide to the VisionQuest post-credits scene.
